Nonisolated switching-capacitor-integrated three- port converters with seamless PWM/PFM modulation

Efficiency and power density of power converters for interfacing photovoltaic panels, energy storage components such as batteries, and loads in photovoltaic (PV) systems become more and more important. Compared with individual converter design for different terminals, power-integrated multiport converters shows obvious advantages in simplifying the system structure, reducing the component count, and improving the operation reliability. Originated from the high power-density switched capacitor topology, a nonisolated switching-capacitor-integrated three-port converter (SCI-TPC) is presented to achieve single-stage direct power conversion among three ports. In order to minimize the cross-regulation effect, pulse-width-modulation (PWM) and pulse-frequency-modulation (PFM) are adopted to realize the flexible power regulation and achieve power balance among three ports. Main operation modes, power flow distribution, and power transfer characteristic are analyzed. With the seamless PWM and PFM hybrid modulation, the current stress can be reduced and the overall conversion efficiency over a full operating range can be improved. Main experimental results are provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed concept

The handedness-associated PCSK6 locus spans an intronic promoter regulating novel transcripts

We recently reported the association of the PCSK6 gene with handedness through a quantitative genome-wide association study (GWAS; P < 0.5 × 10(-8)) for a relative hand skill measure in individuals with dyslexia. PCSK6 activates Nodal, a morphogen involved in regulating left-right body axis determination. Therefore, the GWAS data suggest that the biology underlying the patterning of structural asymmetries may also contribute to behavioural laterality, e.g. handedness. The association is further supported by an independent study reporting a variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) within the same PCSK6 locus to be associated with degree of handedness in a general population cohort. Here, we have conducted a functional analysis of the PCSK6 locus combining further genetic analysis, in silico predictions and molecular assays. We have shown that the previous GWAS signal was not tagging a VNTR effect, suggesting that the two markers have independent effects. We demonstrated experimentally that one of the top GWAS-associated markers, rs11855145, directly alters the binding site for a nuclear factor. Furthermore, we have shown that the predicted regulatory region adjacent to rs11855415 acts as a bidirectional promoter controlling the expression of novel RNA transcripts. These include both an antisense long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and a short PCSK6 isoform predicted to be coding. This is the first molecular characterization of a handedness-associated locus that supports the role of common variants in non-coding sequences in influencing complex phenotypes through gene expression regulation

Trends in mortality from pneumonia in the Europe union: a temporal analysis of the European detailed mortality database between 2001 and 2014.

BACKGROUND: Pneumonia is responsible for approximately 230,000 deaths in Europe, annually. Comprehensive and comparable reports on pneumonia mortality trends across the European Union (EU) are lacking. METHODS: A temporal analysis of national mortality statistics to compare trends in pneumonia age-standardised death rates (ASDR) of EU countries between 2001 and 2014 was performed. International Classification of Diseases version 10 (ICD-10) codes were used to extract data from the World Health Organisation European Detailed Mortality Database and trends were analysed using Joinpoint regression. RESULTS: Median pneumonia mortality across the EU for the last recorded observation was 19.8 / 100,000 and 6.9 / 100,000 for males and females, respectively. Mortality was higher in males across all EU countries, most notably in Estonia and Lithuania where the ratio of male to female ASDR was 4.0 and 3.7, respectively. Gender mortality differences were lowest in the UK and Demark with ASDR ratios of 1.1 and 1.5, respectively. Pneumonia mortality across all countries decreased by a median of 31.0% over the observation period. Countries that demonstrated an increase in pneumonia mortality were Poland (males + 33.1%, females + 10.2%), and Lithuania (males + 6.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Mortality from pneumonia is improving in most EU countries, however substantial variation in trends remains between countries and between genders

Feasibility of combined screening for upper gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma risk by serology and Cytosponge testing: the SUGAR study.

AIMS: Aim was to assess the feasibility of serum markers to identify individuals at risk for gastro-oesophageal adenocarcinoma to reduce the number of individuals requiring invasive assessment by endoscopy. METHODS: Blood samples from 56 patients with Barrett's oesophagus and 202 non-Barrett controls who previously took part in a trial assessing the accuracy of the Cytosponge for Barrett's oesophagus were assessed for serum pepsinogen (PG) 1 and 2, gastrin-17, trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) and Helicobacter pylori infection. RESULTS: PG1 was pathological (<50 ng/mL) in 26 patients (10.1%), none of whom had Barrett's oesophagus (p<0.001). Smoking and drinking had no influence on these results. Pathological PG1 was associated with stomach pain (p=0.029), disruption of sleep (p=0.027) and disruption of diet by symptoms (p=0.019). Serum TFF3 was not associated with any clinical parameter. CONCLUSIONS: Assessment of serum PG1 could be combined with a test for Barrett's oesophagus to identify additional patients requiring endoscopy

Controlled feature selection and compressive big data analytics: Applications to biomedical and health studies.

The theoretical foundations of Big Data Science are not fully developed, yet. This study proposes a new scalable framework for Big Data representation, high-throughput analytics (variable selection and noise reduction), and model-free inference. Specifically, we explore the core principles of distribution-free and model-agnostic methods for scientific inference based on Big Data sets. Compressive Big Data analytics (CBDA) iteratively generates random (sub)samples from a big and complex dataset. This subsampling with replacement is conducted on the feature and case levels and results in samples that are not necessarily consistent or congruent across iterations. The approach relies on an ensemble predictor where established model-based or model-free inference techniques are iteratively applied to preprocessed and harmonized samples. Repeating the subsampling and prediction steps many times, yields derived likelihoods, probabilities, or parameter estimates, which can be used to assess the algorithm reliability and accuracy of findings via bootstrapping methods, or to extract important features via controlled variable selection. CBDA provides a scalable algorithm for addressing some of the challenges associated with handling complex, incongruent, incomplete and multi-source data and analytics challenges. Albeit not fully developed yet, a CBDA mathematical framework will enable the study of the ergodic properties and the asymptotics of the specific statistical inference approaches via CBDA. We implemented the high-throughput CBDA method using pure R as well as via the graphical pipeline environment. To validate the technique, we used several simulated datasets as well as a real neuroimaging-genetics of Alzheimer's disease case-study. The CBDA approach may be customized to provide generic representation of complex multimodal datasets and to provide stable scientific inference for large, incomplete, and multisource datasets

Cytohesins/ARNO: the function in colorectal cancer cells.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) are critical regulators of cell differentiation, survival, proliferation, and migration in cancers. This study found that ARNO (cytohesin-2), an activator of the EGF and IGF-I pathways, was more highly expressed in colorectal cancer tissue than in benign adjacent colorectal tissue. When ARNO-siRNA or the chemical inhibitor SecinH3 blocked ARNO, the downstream of the EGF and IGF-I pathways decreased in colorectal cell lines HT29 and HCT116. This blocking also weakened cell proliferation, invasion, and migration in vitro. Furthermore, EGF receptor (EGFR)-dependent colorectal tumor xenografts in nude mouse exerted anti-proliferative and growth suppression effects by injecting secineH3. These data suggested that inhibiting cytohesins or ARNO as cytoplasmic activators of EGFR and IGF-I in colorectal cancer resulted in anti-proliferation, reduced invasion, decreased migration, and suppressed growth in vivo and in vitro. Therefore, cytohesins or ARNO may be a potential therapy target for some colorectal cancer

Improvement in the Efficiency of Alkylsilyl Functionalized Copolymer for Polymer Solar Cells: Face???On Orientation Enhanced by Random Copolymerization

Herein, an alkylsilyl functionalized alternative (D???A1) copolymer with high crystallization property as the polymer matrix and planar [1,2???c:4,5???c]dithiophene???4,8???dione (BDD) block as the second acceptor unit (A2) are selected to construct two D???A1???D???A2 type random copolymers PBDT???TZ???BDD???1/19 and PBDT???TZ???BDD???1/9. It is found that incorporation of a small amount of BDD block into the alkylsilyl functionalized copolymer by random copolymerization can effectively manipulate the energy levels, light absorption, molecular packing and the photovoltaic properties when blended with ITIC (indacenodithieno[3,2???b]thiophene (IT) as the central donor unit and 2??? (3???oxo???2,3???dihydroinden???1???ylidene)malononitrile (IC) as end groups). More importantly, random copolymerization provides a beneficial trade???off that the slightly reduced periodic sequence promotes the compatibility with the acceptor, whereas introduction of planar BDD units allows a preferred face???on orientation with enhanced ??????? stacking of the random copolymer to facilitate the charge transfer. As a result, the random copolymer PBDT???TZ???BDD???1/19 delivers a significantly higher power conversion efficiency (11.02%) than the alternative binary copolymer counterpart together with the remarkably improved short circuit current and fill factor. These results demonstrate that random polymerization of a small amount of planar units into the highly crystalline polymer matrix is a promising strategy to develop high???performance polymer solar cells

Interfacial Bonding of SnSb Alloys with Graphene toward Ultrafast and Cycle-Stable Na-Ion Battery Anodes

Alloy-type materials have aroused wide concern as potential anodes for Na-ion batteries (NIBs) because of their high theoretical capacities and suitable Na-storage potentials. Fabricating composites with carbon matrixes is the most common strategy to solve their key issues of large volume expansion and sluggish reaction kinetics. However, it is still challenging to achieve strong interfacial interaction between alloy-type materials and carbon matrixes, thus largely improving the buffering effect of carbon matrixes on volume change. Herein, we have developed a SnSb-graphene (SnSb-G) hybrid anode with interfacial Sn/Sb–C bonding via a plasma-assisted mechanochemical method. The Sn/Sb–C bonding can enhance the interfacial interaction between SnSb and graphene, which inhibits the detachment of SnSb nanoparticles from graphene upon cycling and promotes the buffering effect of graphene. Meanwhile, the strong interfacial bonding of conductive graphene network to SnSb nanoparticles can greatly facilitate the Na+ storage/transfer along the SnSb/graphene interface, rendering electrode superior performance at high rates. Therefore, as an anode for NIBs, the SnSb-G composite exhibits superb rate capability (301.5 mAh g–1 at 10.0 A g–1) and cyclic stability (85.8%/89.1% capacity retentions at 1.0/2.0 A g–1 after 1000 cycles). Moreover, the assembled full cell delivers a high energy density of 145 Wh kg–1 and superior cycling performance of 333.6 mAh g–1 after 200 cycles, demonstrating its potential for practical application. This work provides new insight to achieve high-performance alloy-type anodes for practical NIBs